Happy Accidents 2 - An Amourshipping Sequel (Part 8)
by MetekinGiant
Summary: Ash and Serena are back in this Amourshipping sequel! The Lumiose Showcase is underway, and there's a few surprises for Serena in this one, including an old friend and a shocking entrant into the Showcase. But...something's wrong with Ash. He's not quite...himself. Will Serena be able to help Ash get through the Showcase? Enjoy ;) Reviews Appreciated!


**In Serena's POV**

"Wasn't that incredible?" Stacy asked enthusiastically to the audience. Thousands of people screamed in agreement, making me wince. My headache was quickly growing more painful, but I pushed through it for the sake of all those performing. I knew how terrifying a Showcase could be for a girl, especially after my experiences.

I checked on Ash to see how he was doing. Unbelievably, he was _asleep_! His gentle snore and adorable pout was almost irresistible to me, but I had to wake him up before a camera spotted him sleeping while some random girl tried to pour her heart out for us.

I shook him delicately; slightly upset that I had to disturb him while he was in such a pleasant state and whispered, "Wakey wakey, sleepyhead…"  
Ash fluttered his eyes, yawning quietly. He wiped his eyes and looked around, confused as to where he was. After a moment, he turned to me with a stunned expression and scoffed, "Did I fall asleep?"

I giggled and nodded, "Yeah, but only for a little bit."

Ash gave me a cheeky grin and muttered, "I dreamt about you, Serena."

I raised an eyebrow curiously, wondering whether or not Ash was joking. It seemed odd that Ash would waste his dreams on someone as insignificant as me.

"Seriously?" I questioned cautiously.

"Seriously. I…I've done it a few times, but I thought it might've been a bit creepy if I had admitted it before. But now, I guess I can say all that mushy stuff that couples say on TV, huh?" Ash smiled.

I blushed, "No, it's still creepy. But…a _good_ creepy. Like, _teenage boy that watches his Pikachu while it sleeps_ creepy."

"Shut up. _You_ still brush Braixen at night, so you can't talk!" Ash fought back.

I gasped, "That is called _hygiene_ , Ash! Something _I_ had to teach _you_ …"

Ash paused, probably remembering his sticky, syrupy fingers from back in Courmarine City. I smirked and gave him a quick kiss, "Just kidding!"

Ash laughed and leaned into the kiss, making it linger a little longer than we probably should've let it. I would have been completely focused on Ash's tongue if it wasn't for another judge next to me tapping my shoulder.  
"Psst, Serena!" she whispered. "Knock it off; the next contestants are coming on!"

I broke the kiss and quickly glossed my lips, because I knew I'd swamped Ash's lips with the last lot. I turned to thank the judge to my right, but I stopped. She looked so familiar, with her two flowing pink ponytails and her vibrant yellow beret only masking her further. It was only when I got closer that I finally recognised her.

"Aria?" I gasped.

She spun back with a smile and cheered, "You remembered me!"

I felt my heart pumping as I realised that she was wearing the _exact_ same disguise she wore when I met her for the first time, back when she called herself Arianna.

"Of course I remembered you, Aria!" I grinned. "Thanks to you, I'm Kalos Queen! I wouldn't even _be_ here if it wasn't for you."

Aria smirked, "I think you've got something _else_ to thank me for, too..." She gestured over to Ash, who was assessing a girl named Georgina onstage. He was scrawling something on his little clipboard, desperately acting like he knew what to do. What Ash didn't realise was that Georgina's routine hadn't even started yet. It was kind of adorable.

I blushed again, "Oh…um, yeah…"

Aria laughed obnoxiously, "You don't have to be embarrassed! I mean, he _is_ your boyfriend, right?"

I felt a little awkward, so I just nodded mutely.

"You know, just because we have moments of weakness, doesn't mean we have to keep them around," Aria advised. "You're actually a perfect example of that."

I raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Well," Aria began, "Compare yourself now with you last year, when I met you. You were nervous, confused, unexperienced, and honestly…" I looked straight through Aria, wondering if she would take pity.

"…a little transparent."

That confused me. _What does she mean by_ _ **transparent**_ _?_ I wondered.

Aria must've spotted my quizzical look, because she immediately continued, "I'm not, like, trying to be offensive or anything! I meant transparent as in...easy to see-through. I mean, I saw you next to Ash for two seconds, and I could _easily_ tell you liked him."

I muttered with a smile, "Was I really that obvious?"

"Sweetie, you may as well have been wearing a t-shirt that said " _very interested in_ " and pointed to Ash," Aria replied bluntly. We both had a silent giggling fit, mostly to avoid the slightly intimidating fact that she'd just insulted me. I decided to ignore it, sensing that Aria was just joking around.

"But now…" My eyes lit up as Aria beamed, "Now look at you! You're a Kalos Queen, you're a beacon of confidence and beauty, you have your dream boyfriend, you…"

"Wait," I interrupted. "How did you know Ash was my dream boyfriend?"

Aria sighed, "Well, apart from keeping tabs on your social media pages…" She leaned closer and whispered, "By the way, cute pic this morning! Who posted it?"

"Oh, um…that was Jessica. She's one of my best friends I met in Lumiose City, back when I travelled around Kalos with Ash," I explained. "She's also the head of Wardrobe for me and Ash."

"Cool. Tell her to call me later, yeah?" Aria asked. I nodded.

"Okay, so like I was saying," she restarted. "Apart from your social media accounts, I was also a girl with a crush, once. I could tell that look of unconditional love a mile away, Serena. I'm just surprised Ash couldn't…"

"Ash can be a _little_ dense sometimes," I admitted. "But that just makes him that much cuter, right?"  
We both peered over at Ash, who, true to form, had fallen asleep again. He was mumbling something strange in his sleep and was even trying to make out with thin air! I gasped, realising what Ash meant when we talked earlier.

 _I bet you_ _ **were**_ _dreaming about me, Ash Ketchum,_ I thought.

At that moment, the girl onstage, Georgina, cleared her throat, signalling that she was ready to begin her performance. Aria and I turned to face the stage, giving her our utmost attention.

"We'll talk later, Serena," Aria whispered through a bright smile.

"For sure," I responded. I quickly nudged Ash in the ribs, giving him a painfully rude awakening.

"…must be going crazy…" Ash mumbled as he stirred.

 _What was that?_ I asked myself.  
Ash blinked a few times and stretched out, giving me a gentle smirk. I winked at him and pointed to the stage, indicating that he had to focus now. He nodded and grabbed his little clipboard, leaving me with a smile on my face as I watched Georgina make her Arcanine use Flamethrower. This was going to be a long day.

We'd finally made it through all of the elimination rounds and had finished the first finalist round. A stunning girl with wavy brown hair and a seductive smile named AJ had won her penultimate round, and now it was time for the second round.

The three finalists were announced individually by the _ShowcaseTV_ live reporter, Stacy. She'd been nominated to commentate for the Showcase by some poll on _ShowcaseTV_ , or something.

Stacy took to the stage, letting me admire the purple streak that ran through her hair. Her entire outfit was almost identical to it; a pink sleeveless with a thick line of purple down the left side, just like her hair.

Accompanying it was a pink mini-skirt with that same purple line on the side, and individual stockings: purple on the left, pink on the right. She would've looked weird enough in neon lighting, but as some sarcastic joke, she wore glow sticks all around her neck, wrists, arms and waist. I wondered if she'd look like an eerie green night-light when she walked outside.

Stacy held the microphone up to her ruby red lips and grinned, "Alright, guys! We're _so_ close to giving one lucky lady a chance of a lifetime. Can you feel the excitement?"  
The audience squealed in delight, fuelling Stacy with their energy.

"I know _I_ can feel it! So let's get our next three finalists up here and see who's gonna _win this thing_!" Stacy yelled. The audience mimicked her enthusiasm, blazing the Stadium alight with chants and cheers loud enough to burst my eardrums…again. She took her place at the side of the curtain and took a cue-card from a stage assistant.

"Okay, our Performers! First, a cutie from the chilly Dendemille Town," Stacy read. "She's competing with her two equally cute Pokémon, Florges and Litleo. Let's all give a massive cheer for Winter!"

A short, skinny girl with oddly pale skin and short brown hair nervously wobbled to the middle of the stage. Her dress was thick with frills and stripes, like a Zebstrika wearing a tutu.

She gave a shy wave to the crowd before taking her place to the far left of the stage. An empty purple hourglass appeared above her, representing her popularity bar. If the crowd enjoyed her performance at the end, they would wave their individual wands with the colour purple on the tip. Even to this day, I still had no idea how the beams of light flew to the hourglasses. It was as if they all had their own little monorail track that twirled and sparkled its way to the stage.

Stacy drew another breath as she prepared to introduce the second semi-finalist.

"Our next Performer, from right here in Lumiose City…" The locals in the crowd roared in happiness after hearing their hometown's name.

"…competing with her Roserade and Swirlix, it's Ashleigh!" Stacy cried.

Right on cue, a confident-looking blonde girl strode onstage, emitting a sense of flair and sass immediately. It was both refreshing and intimidating, seeing someone have _that_ much trust in both themselves _and_ their Pokémon. However, something looked different about her from the other thirty or so girls I'd seen today; she wasn't wearing anything special. In fact, all she was wearing was a tight, obviously undersized shirt and skinny jeans. Maybe her intention was to look more appealing to the male audience than her Pokémon?

" _Wouldn't be the first time I've seen that happen…_ " I muttered to myself disgracefully. After I'd earned my first Key back in Laverre City, I had fallen in love with Pokémon Performing indefinitely, and had found a newborn respect for it. I also had discovered a powerful distain for those who tried to insult or make fun of Performing. Ash had called me a _real fangirl_ , which made me blush at the time.

I watched as Ashleigh took her place next to Winter, giving her opponent a friendly wave as she did so. Stacy took centre stage again and moved the microphone towards her mouth, keen to introduce the final participant.

"And finally," Stacy began, "From the glistening city of Santalune, competing with her Bulbasaur and Eevee, here's Shauna!"

I gasped as a familiar brunette made her way onstage, sporting her memorable pink dress, which looked like it had only just recently been tended to; as if it had just been found at the back of a wardrobe after being forgotten for months and was hurriedly repaired back to life.  
Shauna gave the crowd a smile, not exactly with gusto, but with a sense of anticipation and excitement. She then looked down at the Judges' table and gave me a small wave. I beamed and returned the gesture, happy to see Shauna again after such a long time. I didn't even notice Ash having a quiet panic attack to my left as I admired Shauna's rejuvenated look. As she took her place next to Ashleigh and Winter, I wondered what her performance would be like, and when she got an Eevee.

I leaned over to Ash and whispered, "Wow, Shauna's looking great, huh? I don't think we've seen her since…"  
"…since that time on Route 12," Ash muttered coldly. I turned to look at him, surprised by his immediate recollection.  
"Yeah, I know. You, uh…you been thinking about that lately?" I asked, curious as to how Ash would react.

He gave me a strange look and shrugged, "N…not r-really…"

I gave him an understanding smile and continued, "I only ask because you batted that little statistic off your brain pretty fast…and you don't exactly look that great, either. Are you alrig…?"

"I'm fine, Serena! Jeez, just get off my case, alright?!" Ash yelled, a lot louder than I expected. His intensity made me flinch and actually scared me a bit. I shrivelled in my seat and felt a droplet emerging from the corner of my eye. Ash had never yelled at me before, and it had just crushed a part of me inside.

Ash saw me sniffle and gasped, "Oh, Arceus, no! I am _so_ sorry, Serena. I never should've yelled at you like that." He immediately jumped out of his seat and rushed to hug me, whispering apologies into my ear caringly.  
I hugged him back, wiping my one tear away with my sleeve. I forgave Ash almost immediately for stunning me like that, as if I wouldn't have anyway. I was actually more happy that Ash literally ran to my side when I was sad than anything. I knew his confession to me before the Showcase was sincere, but this was just something to help prove it. I knew for certain that Ash loved me now, and I was sure that I loved him, too.  
Although, I was still curious as to why Ash erupted out like that. It was so uncharacteristic for him. So…un-Ash.

"Let's get back to the Showcase, Ash."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm good, Ash. Thank you for caring so much."

"Anything for you, Serena. I love you."

"I…I love you, too."

Ash sighed compassionately, thankful that he'd been forgiven. He went back to his seat, not looking away from me once. I gave him a little grin and a thumbs-up just as a final confirmation. He finally accepted this and slumped back into his chair, rubbing his forehead and breathing heavily. I looked from him to Shauna and back again, wondering what caused Ash's outburst.

 _Maybe I'm missing something?_ I thought to myself as the three contestants entered their respective pods for their Theme Performance. I stared at Ash anxiously, hoping that whatever was causing him stress wouldn't last.  
I hadn't seen him like this before, and honestly…I didn't like it.


End file.
